Energy News Roundup: Coal ash still a concern in Indiana Superfund town near Lake Michigan

Coal ash is packed with harmful pollutants. Residents of a northern Indiana town less than a mile from Lake Michigan may have been exposed to unsafe levels of contamination for almost a decade, even after being told that they were safe, an IndyStar investigation found. A coal ash cleanup plan developed in 2016 by electric utility NIPSCO was based on flawed data included by a hired consultant with ties to the coal industry, according to the investigation.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/energy-news-roundup-coal-ash-still-a-concern-in-indiana-superfund-town-near-lake-michigan/

Nicole Pollack, Great Lakes Now

‘None of us saw this coming’: Michigan confronts bird flu in cows

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

Laurie Stanek shovels hay in front of a group of young, black and white Holstein cows.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/none-of-us-saw-this-coming-michigan-confronts-bird-flu-in-cows/

Interlochen Public Radio

Michigan Bottlers Still Get Free Water, Despite Governor’s Tough Talk

By Anna Clark, photography by Sarahbeth Maney

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

When Gretchen Whitmer campaigned for Michigan governor in 2018, she took aim at Michigan’s bottled water industry — and the state policy that gave it unfettered access to free water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/michigan-bottlers-still-get-free-water-despite-governors-tough-talk/

ProPublica

Indiana attorney general fights EPA rule that would reduce pollution on Indy’s west side

By Enrique Saenz, Mirror Indy

Mirror Indy is a part of Free Press Indiana, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to ensuring all Hoosiers have access to the news and information they need.

A controversial plan to build a 200-acre retail development along the Indianapolis border with Greenwood is on hold after a state agency denied the developer’s permit application.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/indiana-attorney-general-fights-epa-rule-that-would-reduce-pollution-indys-west-side/

Mirror Indy

Drugs, microplastics and forever chemicals: new contaminants emerge in the Great Lakes

By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal

Rania Hamza calls it “a coincidence” that an engineer, a biologist and a lawyer at the same Toronto university were independently worrying about the harmful substances and chemicals being flushed down Ontario’s toilets. Three years ago, after figuring out they were all interested in the same thing, the unlikely trio came together to highlight a major gap in policy.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/drugs-microplastics-and-forever-chemicals-new-contaminants-emerge-in-the-great-lakes/

The Narwhal

Great Lakes Moment: Birds of a feather flock together

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

It was mid-morning on a beautiful early May day. It was clear and sunny and the white puffy clouds were a perfect contrast to the pale blue waters of the lower Detroit River.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/great-lakes-moment-birds-of-a-feather-flock-together/

John Hartig

Wisconsin’s Jane Elder chronicles personal and professional Great Lake’s journey in new book

For Madison’s Jane Elder, the timing was optimal when she launched a career in environmental activism. She was coming of age and interested in the environment in the early 1970s. At the same time, interest in the environment was “blossoming” as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established and the Clean Water Act became federal law.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/wisconsins-jane-elder-chronicles-personal-and-professional-great-lakes-journey-in-new-book/

Gary Wilson, Great Lakes Now

Nibi Chronicles: Krishna’s quest for ticks

“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/nibi-chronicles-krishnas-quest-for-ticks/

Staci Lola Drouillard

Waves of Change: Meet activist and We the People of Detroit president Monica Lewis-Patrick

Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.

This month, we spoke with Monica Lewis-Patrick, activist and president and CEO of We the People of Detroit.

Listen to the full interview

We the People of Detroit is a grassroots organization that works to empower Detroiters around key issues in the city, including access to clean water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/waves-of-change-meet-activist-and-we-the-people-of-detroit-president-monica-lewis-patrick/

Great Lakes Now

Researchers find a tiny organism has the power to reduce a persistent greenhouse gas in farm fields

By Melina Walling, Associated Press

In the world of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide gets most of the blame. But tiny organisms that flourish in the world’s farm fields emit a far more potent gas, nitrous oxide, and scientists have long sought a way to address it.

Now some researchers think they’ve found a bacteria that can help.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/researchers-find-a-tiny-organism-has-the-power-to-reduce-a-persistent-greenhouse-gas-in-farm-fields/

The Associated Press

Points North: A Struggle for Justice

By Michael Livingston, Interlochen Public Radio

Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio. 

October 15, 1900 was a dark day for a small group of Native Americans near the tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/points-north-a-struggle-for-justice/

Interlochen Public Radio

In warming Great Lakes region, water, heat can be an unhealthy combination

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan and Lester Graham, Michigan Public

Bill Gurn isn’t sure how he got the mosquito bite that nearly killed him in the autumn of 2019.

He’s an avid fisherman. Maybe on the water? Or it could have happened while he was tinkering in his garage or yard.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/in-warming-great-lakes-region-water-heat-can-be-an-unhealthy-combination/

Bridge Michigan and Michigan Public

PFAS News Roundup: 3M scientist exposes 50 years of PFAS deceit just as the ‘forever chemicals’ are found in Great Lakes precipitation

In a ProPublica story, former 3M chemist Kris Hansen details how the chemical giant hid the dangers of PFOS from employees and the public. She was asked by senior scientist Jim Johnson to retest for what are now known as “forever chemicals” in human blood samples from the general population, in 1997.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/pfas-news-roundup-3m-scientist-exposes-50-years-of-pfas-deceit-just-as-the-forever-chemicals-are-found-in-great-lakes-precipitation/

Mia Litzenberg

Bald eagles nearly died out. What can we learn from their return to the southern Great Lakes?

By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal

Growing up in a shiny Toronto-area suburb lined with concrete and puny trees, the only bald eagles Sheetal Rawal saw in the 1980s were in her imagination or on TV.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Inspired by a particularly stirring episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks — the gang goes to Washington, D.C., to convince the president to stop a developer from bulldozing an eagle’s nest — she remembers gazing out of the car window on road trips, scanning treetops and skies for giant birds with bright white heads.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/bald-eagles-nearly-died-out-what-can-we-learn-from-their-return-to-the-southern-great-lakes/

The Narwhal

I Speak For The Fish: Are muskies still the readers’ favorite?

I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television. 

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/i-speak-for-the-fish-are-muskies-still-the-readers-favorite/

Kathy Johnson, Great Lakes Now

It’s OK to mow in May − the best way to help pollinators is by adding native plants

By Christina Grozinger and Harland Patch, Penn State

 is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

It’s a simple idea: Stop mowing your lawn in the month of May to let flowers in the lawn, such as dandelions and clover, grow and support bees and other pollinators.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/the-best-way-to-help-pollinators-is-by-adding-native-plants/

The Conversation

Disappointed dogs, sad skiers, frustrated fishermen

Hayward, Wisconsin got its first snow of the season on Halloween. But then Thanksgiving came, and Christmas, with no more white flakes. The new year started equally warm and snowless, and the organizers of the iconic American Birkebeiner ski race began to really worry. The February 24, 2024 race would be the 50th anniversary of the country’s most famous (and largest) cross-country ski event, and it would also be a World Cup competition, drawing top competitors from around the globe.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/disappointed-dogs-sad-skiers-frustrated-fishermen/

Kari Lydersen

Energy News Roundup: Industry groups fight federal emissions rules they say will hurt region

A fuel industry group is spending $6.6 million on ads in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other swing states that take aim at the Biden administration’s tailpipe emissions standards. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule was in the works for years before being finalized in March. It aims to shift the majority of the country’s new car sales to electric and hybrid vehicles by 2032.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/energy-news-roundup-industry-groups-fight-federal-emissions-rules-they-say-will-hurt-region/

Nicole Pollack, Great Lakes Now

Dams may slow harmful algal blooms in urban lakes, expert says

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Elinor Epperson and Daniel Schoenherr, Great Lakes Echo

Like clockwork, Michigan’s Ford Lake and its downstream neighbor, Belleville Lake, turn bright green every summer due to harmful algal blooms.

The lakes, located near Ypsilanti in the southeast part of the state, have struggled for decades with phosphorus pollution that spurs algae growth.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/dams-may-slow-harmful-algal-blooms-in-urban-lakes-expert-says/

Great Lakes Echo

Wildfire Rampage Injures Lungs in the Great Lakes

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; and Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/wildfire-rampage-injures-lungs-in-the-great-lakes/

Circle of Blue

Chicago groups spotlight the city’s water “abundance,” focus on innovation, collaboration as key to its future

For Chicago’s Alaina Harkness, the availability and well-being of Chicago and the Great Lakes region’s water is clear. It’s about innovation, and that requires collaboration. Bringing together the right mix of policy, science, tech, advocacy groups, and others to work on common priorities for the future of water.

This mix happened recently at Chicago Water Week, organized by the not-for-profit, Current, a Chicago-based water innovation hub.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/chicago-groups-spotlight-the-citys-water-abundance-focus-on-innovation-collaboration-as-key-to-its-future/

Gary Wilson, Great Lakes Now

Canadian wildfire smoke chokes upper Midwest for second straight year

By Todd Richmond, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Smoke from Canadian wildfires has prompted health warnings across the upper Midwest for the second straight year.

Fires raging in British Columbia and Alberta sent the haze over parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, lingering into Monday morning.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/canadian-wildfire-smoke-chokes-upper-midwest-for-second-straight-year/

The Associated Press

PFAS News Roundup: White House official visits Minnesota high school in town known as “ground zero” for PFAS

White House official and chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Brenda Mallory, visited Minnesota’s Tartan High School on May 6 to tour the area known as “ground zero” for PFAS contamination. The Lake Elmo school is located in a “plume” created by Minnesota multinational chemical giant, 3M.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/pfas-news-roundup-white-house-official-visits-minnesota-high-school-in-town-known-as-ground-zero-for-pfas/

Lisa John Rogers, Great Lakes Now

Meet the man who has been cleaning the Rouge River for 35 years

By Zach Lassen

This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.

This story is from Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab, where community reporters write about health and climate issues in their neighborhood. Neighborhood Reporting Lab is supported by the Americana and Kresge Foundations.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/meet-the-man-who-has-been-cleaning-the-rouge-river-for-35-years/

Planet Detroit

Michigan author reflects on 20th anniversary of landmark book The Living Great Lakes

Jerry Dennis wasn’t seeking adventure when as a novice sailor he joined a veteran captain and crew to sail from Traverse City to the Atlantic Ocean. He was looking for a deeper understanding of the Great Lakes, but adventure found him.

Similarly, he wasn’t seeking notoriety when he wrote The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, which was based on the sailing adventure.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/michigan-author-reflects-on-20th-anniversary-of-landmark-book-the-living-great-lakes/

Gary Wilson, Great Lakes Now

‘No Mow May’ grows in Traverse City

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

Walking around Traverse City, it’s hard to miss the yard signs with a smiling cartoon bee proclaiming “No Mow May.”

The signs are part of a conservation initiative aimed at raising awareness of how lawn care can impact pollinators and plant life.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/no-mow-may-grows-in-traverse-city/

Interlochen Public Radio

Foraging’s Spring Backyard Splendor: Dandelions and Violets

This story is a part of “A Year in the Wild Kitchen of the Great Lakes,” a series in partnership with expert forager Lisa M. Rose with the mission of nurturing a deeper connection with the natural world through foraging.

As spring unfolds its vibrant hues, what better way to celebrate the season than by embracing the often overlooked splendor of dandelions and violets?

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/foragings-spring-backyard-splendor-dandelions-and-violets/

Lisa M. Rose

Great Lakes Moment: Detroit River’s important role in lake whitefish

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.

Lake whitefish is an important commercial fishery in Lake Erie and is culturally and economically important to local First Nations.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/great-lakes-moment-detroit-rivers-important-role-in-lake-whitefish/

John Hartig

New Interagency Agreement Supports Water Tribal Water and Sanitation Projects

By Native News Online Staff, Native News Online

This article originally appeared on Native News Online. Founded in 2011, Native News Online reaches millions of Native and non-Native readers annually including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and others interested in Native American concerns.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/new-interagency-agreement-supports-water-tribal-water-and-sanitation-projects/

Native News Online

Energy News Roundup: Federal money pours in to accelerate energy transition

There’s been plenty of federal attention aimed at the Great Lakes region over the past couple of weeks. The Biden administration last Thursday announced four new “workforce hubs” in Upstate New York, Michigan, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. The hubs — which join the five announced last year in Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Augusta, and Phoenix — are intended to help communities access training for jobs in the clean energy space.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/energy-news-roundup-federal-money-pours-in-to-accelerate-energy-transition/

Nicole Pollack, Great Lakes Now

A Detroit renter’s quest for drinking water clarity

By Meghan Rutigliano

This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.

This story is from Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab, where community reporters write about health and climate issues in their neighborhood. Neighborhood Reporting Lab is supported by the Americana and Kresge Foundations.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/a-detroit-renters-quest-for-drinking-water-clarity/

Planet Detroit

Indigenous peoples rush to stop ‘false climate solutions’ ahead of next international climate meeting

By Maria Parazo Rose

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.”

This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/indigenous-peoples-rush-to-stop-false-climate-solutions-ahead-of-next-international-climate-meeting/

Grist

New study: Great Lakes beaches are littered with plastic trash

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/new-study-great-lakes-beaches-are-littered-with-plastic-trash/

Bridge Michigan

The murky process of reopening Palisades and why it’s a turning point for nuclear

There are a lot of eyes on Michigan’s Palisades nuclear power plant as the public and private sectors try, together, to bring it back from the dead.

Plenty of nuclear reactors in the United States have successfully started back up after prolonged stretches of inactivity. The difference is that every other nuclear plant that restarted after an extended outage retained its operating license, meaning that it had to comply with strict federal maintenance standards, even at the times when it wasn’t sending electricity out onto the grid.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/the-murky-process-of-reopening-palisades-and-why-its-a-turning-point-for-nuclear/

Nicole Pollack, Great Lakes Now

Waves of Change: Meet educator and Friends of the Fox River president Gary Swick

Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.

This month, we spoke with Gary Swick, educator and president of Friends of the Fox River.

Listen to the full interview

The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River and flows over 200 miles from southern Wisconsin to Ottawa, Illinois.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/waves-of-change-meet-educator-and-friends-of-the-fox-river-president-gary-swick/

Great Lakes Now

Nibi Chronicles: The Return of Nenookaasiwag

“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and she is at work on a children’s story.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/nibi-chronicles-the-return-of-nenookaasiwag/

Staci Lola Drouillard

Points North: More Than Just a Filet of Fish

By Daniel Wanschura, Interlochen Public Radio

Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio. 

Dave Naftzger found out about the 100% Fish Project entirely by accident.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/points-north-more-than-just-filet-of-fish/

Interlochen Public Radio

Children of Flint water crisis make change as young environmental and health activists

By Tammy Webber, Associated Press

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Their childhood memories are still vivid: warnings against drinking or cooking with tap water, enduring long lines for cases of water, washing from buckets filled with heated, bottled water. And for some, stomach aches, skin rashes and hair loss.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/children-of-flint-water-crisis-make-change-as-young-environmental-and-health-activists/

The Associated Press

PFAS New Roundup: PFAS are shown to be unique bipartisan voting concern in Wisconsin

Nearly 70% of Wisconsin voters polled by Marquette University Law School showed concern about PFAS in drinking water. A uniquely uniting force from across the political aisle, which is not reflected at the state level. Last week, elected officials were once again deadlocked over how to spend the $125 million that was set aside — in May 2023 — to solve the crisis.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/pfas-new-roundup-pfas-are-shown-to-be-unique-bipartisan-voting-concern-in-wisconsin/

Lisa John Rogers, Great Lakes Now

Marbled crayfish raises eyebrows, and concerns

It all started with a mottled little crustacean crawling across a soccer field in Ontario’s Burlington City Park in October 2021, a few miles from Lake Ontario.

The animal may have looked innocuous, but this was the first sign of a costly and grueling ongoing battle against a potentially devastating new invasive species in the Great Lakes.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/marbled-crayfish-raises-eyebrows-and-concerns/

Kari Lydersen

Michigan gets $290M boost for water upgrades as Flint crisis anniversary nears

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/michigan-gets-290m-boost-for-water-upgrades-as-flint-crisis-anniversary-nears/

Bridge Michigan

A Fleeting Wild Taste of Spring Ephemerals: Ramps and Ostrich Fern

This story is a part of “A Year in the Wild Kitchen of the Great Lakes,” a series in partnership with expert forager Lisa M. Rose with the mission of nurturing a deeper connection with the natural world through foraging. 

The Importance of Ecological Awareness in Foraging

As we delve into the world of foraging, it’s crucial to cultivate an understanding of the ecosystems we interact with, especially when harvesting wild plants like ramps (wild leeks) and ostrich ferns.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/a-fleeting-wild-taste-of-spring-ephemerals-ramps-and-ostrich-fern/

Lisa M. Rose

Ohio Birding Transitions

The Biggest Week in American Birding draws a worldwide audience to glimpse dozens of species of migrating birds including the stars of the show, tiny warblers, as well as local birds in northern Ohio — and officials say they’ve been seeing changes in recent years.

“There appears to be a little shifting in the short-distance migrants versus the tropical migrants,” said Mark Shieldcastle, research director at Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO), event host.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/ohio-birding-transitions/

James Proffitt, Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now talks “Love Canal” with American Experience Executive Producer Cameo George

American Experience’s “Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal” tells the dramatic and inspiring story of ordinary women who fought against overwhelming odds for the health and safety of their families.

In the late 1970s, residents of Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York discovered that their homes, schools and playgrounds were built on top of a former chemical waste dump.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/great-lakes-now-talks-poisoned-ground-the-tragedy-at-love-canal-with-american-experience-executive-producer-cameo-george/

Great Lakes Now

Finding creative new ways to manage invasive cattails

Hot dog on a stick. Water torch. Supermarket of the swamp.

Cattails go by many names, but almost everyone can recognize the pervasive wetland plant  that grows along lakes, ponds, marshes, and swamps.

Their thin green stems and leaves can reach up to nearly ten feet in height.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/finding-creative-new-ways-to-manage-invasive-cattails/

Lily Stewart, Great Lakes Now

Good news for Michigan smelt season: PFAS levels lower than feared

By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/good-news-for-michigan-smelt-season-pfas-levels-lower-than-feared/

Bridge Michigan

Energy News Roundup: Key figure in Ohio bribery scandal dead by suicide

In yet another shakeup in the Ohio energy bribery saga that first came to light in 2020, a former state utility regulator was found dead by suicide last week. Sam Randazzo, 74, a longtime lobbyist who was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to chair the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, had been charged with taking a $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy Corp.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/energy-news-roundup-key-figure-in-ohio-bribery-scandal-dead-by-suicide/

Nicole Pollack, Great Lakes Now

Line 5 activist group wants Gov. Whitmer to “be an advocate” for shutdown

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s record on the Line 5 oil pipeline that traverses the Straits of Mackinac is mixed, according to Lansing advocate Sean McBrearty.

When running for governor in 2018, “Whitmer pledged to do everything in her power to take Line 5 out of the Great Lakes,” McBrearty told Great Lakes Now in a recent interview.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/line-5-activist-group-wants-gov-whitmer-to-be-an-advocate-for-shutdown/

Gary Wilson, Great Lakes Now

Your Foraging Journey: A Framework to Sustainable and Safe Practices

Foraging connects us with the natural world, offering a pathway to understand the land, its cycles, and the bountiful edible plants that grow wild around us. Whether you’re a novice eager to explore the greens outside your doorstep or an experienced forager looking to deepen your practice, this guide provides essential insights into starting your foraging journey, identifying plants, harvesting sustainably, and ensuring safety.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/your-foraging-journey-a-framework-to-sustainable-and-safe-practices/

Lisa M. Rose